The present invention relates generally to the field of signal processing and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for linear filtering with filters of any desired shape and length using the wavelet transform as the computation engine by modifying the basis functions. Specifically, the method and apparatus modify the basis function of the wavelet and/or inverse wavelet transform(s) by convolving it with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified wavelet and/or inverse wavelet transform(s).
The present invention method and apparatus are applicable to a variety of signal processing related fields, including, but not limited to the following: radar processing; geophysics processing (e.g., meteorology, oceanography, geodesy, and seismology); audio processing; telephonic processing (e.g., land-line, remote, cellular, digital, and analog); personal digital assistants (PDA) processing; wireless application protocol (WAP) processing; teleconferencing processing; data storage, retrieval and transmission processing; networks and communication processing; facsimile processing; video processing; multi-media processing; still-image processing; medical image processing (e.g., ultrasound, radiology and mammography); computer processing; internet and intranet processing; and/or other sensory data processing. The present invention relates to signal processing and more particularly to the linear filtering of data signals, such as image signals which may be used in image processing methods and apparatuses.
The present invention can be used for linear filtering digital signals and images with desired filters of any shape and length using the forward wavelet/inverse wavelet transform hardware and software as the only computation engine. Except for an initial (one time) modification of the wavelet basis functions all of the computation to perform linear filtering in the present invention can be done either in the forward wavelet transform step, in the inverse wavelet transform step or in both the forward and inverse wavelet transforms. While the present invention is applicable to a myriad of technically related fields, including the ones mentioned above, for purposes solely for illustration, the present invention may be incorporated with data compression and decompression methods and apparatuses, which generally relate to the compression, decompression, transmission, and storage of audio, still-image, video, and multi-media data in digital form in the applicable one, two, and three dimensional signal formats.
By way of background, the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and the discrete cosine transform (DCT) (as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,945 to Tucker et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,974 to Impagliazzo; U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,220 to Vafai et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,377 to Greene, and herein incorporated by reference) are mathematical algorithms that break down signal data or image into their sine/cosine wave components. The sine/cosine wave components are also known as the transform coefficients. The magnitude of the transform coefficients determines the appropriate amount of the corresponding basis function so when pieced back together, these components reproduce the original signal or image. Heretofore known embodiments of signal or image compression apparatuses often use the DFT or DCT to break signals or images into their sinusoidal components and save only the largest components to compress the data. The rest of the components are discarded or represented with fewer bits. This can result in a significant loss of information since the signal or image""s information is spread over all of its sinusoidal components. For example, the sharp details of an X-ray image are smoothed when the image is compressed at high levels, thus reducing the value of the image. If a lower level of compression is used (i.e. less-lossy) data storage requirements are increased and a greater amount of time is required for data transmission. Similar problems occur in other data compression applications.
Conventional image compression techniques that are associated with the Joint Photograph Expert Group (JPEG) or Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG) standards are widely used in many of the current imaging devices but are unable to meet the increasing demand for higher compression ratios and greater image fidelity needed by many applications. For example, utilizing new communication channels with lower bandwidth. The JPEG technique, based on the DCT, divides the image into a series of 8xc3x978 pixel blocks and the DCT is computed for each block producing an average value and 63 frequency values. These values can be quantized to produce a minimum set representing each 8xc3x978 block. Because the image is divided into 8xc3x978 blocks, the approach tends to mask details, interrupt continuous lines, and cause discontinuities at the borders thereby lowering image fidelity in the reconstructed image.
Thus, DCT based image compression has two serious disadvantages, namely, a blocking effect and a mosquito noise effect (also referred to as corona effect). The blocking effect is attributable principally to a quantization error in the generation of lower frequency coefficients while mosquito noise is attributable to a quantization error in the generation of higher frequency coefficients. As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, wavelet transform coding was recently introduced and developed to overcome these disadvantages.
Many different data compression techniques exist in the prior art. Compression techniques can be divided into two broad categories, lossy coding and lossless coding. Lossy coding involves coding that results in the loss of information, such that there is no guarantee of perfect reconstruction of the original data. The goal of lossy compression is that changes to the original data are done in such a way that they are not objectionable or detectable. In lossless compression, all the information is retained and the data is compressed in a manner which allows for perfect reconstruction.
For purpose of illustration, consider an image comprising a gray-scale representation of a photograph displayed by a rectangular array of picture elements (xe2x80x9cpixelsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpelsxe2x80x9d) arranged in 1000 rows by 1000 columns (1,000,000 pixels). Each pixel typically consists of or is represented by 8 bits which are used to encode 256 possible intensity levels at the corresponding point on the photograph. Hence, without compression, transmission of the photograph requires a total of 8xc3x97106 bits (1 million bytes or 1 Megabyte) be sent over the communication link. A typical telephone line is capable of transmitting about 56,000 bits per second (bps); hence the picture transmission would require nearly 2xc2xd minutes. Transmission times of this magnitude are unacceptable.
The bit budget may be a function of a variety of factors, such as the product of the desired bit rate (e.g., 0.25 bits/pel) and the number of coefficients (e.g., 512 by 512 pixel image), the capacity of a modem by which the coded bit stream will be transmitted, or the capacity of a disk or tape used to store the coded bit stream. For instance, a single, relatively modest-sized image, having 640 by 480 pixels and a full-color resolution of 24 bits per pixel (three 8-bit bytes per pixel), occupies nearly a megabyte of data. At a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, a 24-bit color screen requires 2.3 megabytes of memory to represent. A 24-bit color picture of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch page, at 300 dots per inch, requires as much as 25 megabytes to represent.
As mentioned above, an image may be compressed during transmission to reduce the bit rate of an input image or to increase the efficiency of a storage device for storing image data. In most cases, however, picture quality deteriorates since the integrity of the image data is degraded by the image compression. The ultimate object of image compression is to maintain picture quality by eliminating any appreciable viewing difference between original and compressed images, while maintaining a high compression rate.
More by way of background, the wavelet transform was recently developed as an improvement over the DFT and DCT to better represent signals having sharp changes or discontinuities. The basis functions of the wavelet transform are small waves or wavelets, developed by mathematicians to better match signal discontinuities. In addition, researchers and engineers that were working in computer vision had also studied some aspects of wavelet theory such as multiresolution and pyramid representation. With great simplification, the major contributions of each community to the field of wavelets can be summarized; mathematicians developed a solid and unifying framework for wavelet theory and engineers/researchers provided the means to implement the wavelet transform using their filter banks and applied the wavelet theory to different applications such as image coding, segmentation, enhancement, and speech processing. Also, psycho-physicists have provided evidence that wavelet analysis and its multiresolution property are suitable to approximate the human visual system.
The wavelet basis functions of a wavelet transform are such that basis functions in each wavelet has finite support of a different width. The wider wavelets examine larger regions of the signal and resolve low frequency details accurately, while the narrower wavelets examine a small region of the signal and resolve spatial details accurately. Wavelet-based compression has the potential for better compression ratios and less complexity than sinusoidal-based compression. Wavelet transform properties make them well suited for signal processing in conjunction with other filters, such as for video and still-image compression applications due at least in part to the bound nature of the reference wavelet basis, as well as to the orthoganality of the wavelet basis at different frequency scales. As a result, near-perfect reconstruction of a compressed video or still-image signal can be achieved. In addition, relatively simple and compact filter banks can be constructed to implement the xe2x80x9cnear perfectxe2x80x9d wavelet-based decomposition/reconstruction.
Typically, during wavelet-based decomposition, a frequency band of an image signal is decomposed into a number of sub-bands by a bank of bandpass filters. Each sub-band then is translated to a lower frequency band (baseband, for example) by decimating (down-sampling) it and thereafter encoding it. During corresponding reconstruction, each encoded sub-band is decoded and then interpolated (up-sampled) back to its original frequency band. The bands then are summed to provide a replica of the original image signal. As such, data wavelet-based compression is an extremely useful tool for storing and transmitting large amounts of data. For example, the time required to transmit an image, such as a digital reproduction of a photograph or facsimile transmission of a document, is reduced drastically when wavelet-based compression is used to decrease the number of bits required to recreate the image.
The main difference between a wavelet transform and the DCT is the way decomposition and reconstruction is accomplished. Instead of using cosine waves as with DCT, the wavelet transform uses short waves that start and stop with different spatial resolutions. However, all these small waves come from the same xe2x80x9cmother waveletxe2x80x9d that meets a set of conditions. While the DCT or the fast Fourier transform (FFT) have a set of fixed and well defined basis functions for a specified transform size, for wavelets, on the other hand, it is the opposite case. For wavelets, there does not exist a specific formula for the basis function but rather a set of mathematical requirements that the wavelet functions need to satisfy. Thus, the first step in wavelet analysis is to determine and designate the appropriate wavelet bases to use and that depends on the specific application. For instance, in image compression one can design the wavelet basis functions and tune them to a specific class of images such as color photographic images, finger print images, or medical images. Designing and finding such wavelet bases to be designated for use is not a trivial task because it is mathematically involved. Fortunately, numerous researchers have designed a number of specific wavelet functions, of which these wavelet bases are identified by the namesake of the respective researcher (e.g., Daubechies, Coffman, Chui, Mallat, etc.). The most famous and widely used wavelet bases are the Daubechies wavelets which are named after its founder, Ingrid Daubechies. She was the first researcher to design a non-trivial finite length discrete (compact support) wavelet basis function. Her class or family of wavelets are effective for representing polynomial behavior.
A number of apparatuses and methods for signal processing using wavelets and inverse wavelets are known in the art. Some typical examples of wavelet and inverse wavelet transformers and related art are disclosed in the following list of U.S. Patents, and are herein incorporated by reference:
In view of the large amount of memory required to store or transmit a single image in uncompressed digital form, it would be desirable to compress the digital image data before storage or transmission in such a way that the compressed digital data could later be decompressed to recover the original image data for viewing. In this way, a smaller amount of compressed digital data could be stored or transmitted. Accordingly, numerous digital image compression and decompression methods have been developed.
As shown in FIGS. 1(A) and (B), a non-wavelet linear filter 310, e.g., noise-reduction process, may be performed in the non-wavelet transform domain on the signal prior to or after the wavelet transform 301, i.e., performed without the wavelet as a computation engine. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 1(C) and (D), a non-inverse wavelet linear filter 410, e.g. enhancement process, may be performed in the non-inverse wavelet domain on the signal after or prior to the inverse wavelet transform 401, i.e., performed without the inverse wavelet as a computation engine. As one skilled in the art would appreciate, the non-wavelet and non-inverse wavelet linear filtering of FIG. 1 are performed in the frequency domain or the time domain.
Neither the patents nor the prior art cited herein realize the important advantages that are attributed to modifying the basis function of the discrete wavelet or inverse wavelet transform by convolving it with desired filter. This modification forms a modified wavelet transform (MWT) or modified inverse wavelet transform (MIWT) to perform linear filtering. An advantage of the present invention MWT or MIWT is that the linear filtering is accomplished using the wavelet or inverse wavelet transform as the computation engine. Therefore, the linear filtering of the present invention is performed without incurring extra cost in terms of software and algorithm computations or apparatus/hardware modifications relative to the prior art.
Generally, as understood by those skilled in the art, a digital image can be linear filtered using a number of techniques. A well known technique, as understood by those skilled in the art, is in the spatial domain where the pixels in the image are multiplied by the appropriate weights of the desired filter coefficients and the results are then summed over the appropriate limits. Because the linear filtering operations are important in digital image processing and are widely used, there has been significant work to perform the linear filtering operation using different methods other than the spatial domain. One such method of performing linear filtering using the DFT or FFT instead of the direct linear convolution in the spatial domain is disclosed in the book entitled xe2x80x9cTwo-Dimensional Signal and Image Processingxe2x80x9d by Jae S. Lim (pgs. 145-148), whereby it is demonstrated in many cases that it is faster to perform linear filtering indirectly using the DFT or FFT instead of the direct spatial domain. Another technique as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,284 to Wober et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,375 to Reisch et al (both commonly assigned to the assignee of the present patent application) discloses how to perform the linear filtering operation in the DCT domain.
In the present invention, linear filtering is performed using the wavelet transform in a method that is mathematically equivalent to the filtering operation in the spatial domain. The application of wavelet transforms to perform linear filtering is not well known and offers an opportunity to conveniently utilize available custom hardware or general purpose computers to achieve linear filtering. This is an important advantage to digital signal processing and image processing because the wavelet transform is becoming an integral part of various signal processing and imaging processing devices, as well as their related industry standards.
Neither the patents nor the prior art cited herein discloses the implementation of the present invention for performing the equivalent of the linear filtering using either the forward wavelet transform, the inverse wavelet transform or both the forward and inverse wavelet transform.
In addition, as the availability and use of wavelet related technologies continue to rise in both hardware and software it is the crucial part of compression standards in JPEG 2000, DICOM medical image coding, and other related fields.
A number of prior art methods and apparatuses have been developed using non-wavelet linear filtering and non-inverse wavelet linear filtering. However, one of the drawbacks associated with the prior art is that its non-wavelet and non-inverse wavelet linear filtering are performed as a separate step, thus requiring additional hardware or software. Therefore, the prior art teachings do not harness or leverage the wavelet (and/or inverse wavelet) basis function of the hardware or software to perform the desired linear filtering of the digital signals.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,965 to Fu et al., discloses still and moving image compression techniques whereby the compression algorithm could involve, according to the disclosure, a wavelet technique which allows the compressed or reduced image to be transmitted over the limited bandwidth transmission medium. The image is then decompressed using an inverse wavelet algorithm and interpolated back to its original array size. Thereafter, edges (contours) in the image are sharpened to enhance the perceptual quality of the reconstructed image, typically with a high-pass filter. The Fu et al. sharpening/enhancement filtering is performed in the non-wavelet domain, i.e., in the time domain or frequency domain. As a result, the Fu et al. linear filtering requires additional software and/or hardware support besides the inverse wavelet basis function to accomplish its desired filtered effect through non-inverse wavelet linear filtering, i.e. the Fu et al. linear filtering is accomplished in a basis function other than the inverse wavelet basis function. Similarly, Fu et al. also teach that the input image array may be non-wavelet filtered to minimize or reduce the noise. Again, this desired filtering requires additional software and/or hardware support beyond the wavelet basis function.
Next, U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,198 to Vachtsevanos et al., discloses a method and apparatus which analyzes an image or an object to detect and identify defects in the object using a wavelet transform to extract relevant features from a scanned image. The input signal to the Vachtsevanos detection and identification method/apparatus first undergoes non-wavelet linear filtering and, thereafter, features are extracted using the wavelet transform. Vachtesevanos further discloses that the non-wavelet linear filtering reduces the noise content and increases usability, and that various non-wavelet linear filtering techniques can be applied which depend upon the particular application. However, the drawback associated with the Vachtesevanos non-wavelet filtering technique is that the filtering requires additional software and/or hardware support besides the wavelet basis function to accomplish its desired filtered effect or non-wavelet linear filtering, i.e. the Vachtesevanos et al. linear filtering is accomplished in a basis function other than the wavelet basis function. The Vachtesevanos non-wavelet linear filtering is performed in the non-wavelet domain, i.e., in the time or frequency domain.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,481 to Nishikawa et al., discloses a method for automated detection of abnormal anatomic regions, wherein a mammogram is digitized to produce a digital image and the digital image is processed using local edge gradient analysis and linear pattern analysis in addition to feature extraction routines to identify abnormal anatomic regions. Nishikawa discloses that the digital image is first linearly filtered prior to performing a wavelet decomposition or reconstruction of the first filtered digital image. Similar to the aforementioned techniques, the drawback with Nishikawa is that the initial filtering is required to be performed as a separate step without using the wavelet or inverse wavelet basis function.
None of the patents described above provides the important advantages of present invention whereby the wavelet basis function is harnessed and leveraged so as to use the wavelet transform as the computation engine of the linear filtering method/apparatus, thereby being able to perform linear filtering without incurring extra cost in terms of software computations or hardware modifications.
A novel approach for modifying the wavelet (inverse wavelet) basis function of the wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform in accordance to a desired linear filtering effect has now been discovered. The present invention convolves the wavelet (inverse wavelet) basis function of the wavelet transform with a desired filter to form a modified wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform. By practicing the invention, the skilled practitioner can now perform linear filtering using the wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform as the computation engine. Thus the teachings of the present invention overcome the limitations of the prior art modes that linear filter is performed as a separate step in the spatial domain, frequency domain or time domain, rather than in the wavelet (inverse wavelet) domain.
As the present invention teaches linear filtering using the wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform as the computation engine, an advantage of the present invention is that the linear filtering is performed without incurring extra cost in terms of software/algorithm computations or apparatus/hardware modifications relative to the prior art.
As the present invention is able to use the wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform as the computation engine of the linear filtering method/apparatus, the present invention harnesses and leverages the wavelet (inverse wavelet) transform so as to perform the desired linear filtering of the digital or analog signals, without incurring extra cost in terms of software computations or hardware modifications. As a result, the present invention eliminates the need for another program for software support or additional silicon area or real estate to accommodate more functions in hardware. For instance, in a given system the existing software programs or subroutines and the existing digital signal processing (DSP) chips or computer processors that would already be in place will be adequate to perform the desired linear filtering.
In one aspect, the present invention features a method for linear filtering digital signals from a data source using desired filters of various shape and length to establish a desired filtered effect. The filtering method comprising the steps of: wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective wavelet basis function during a wavelet decomposition analysis using the wavelet transform as a computation engine; and modifying the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect. The modification of the wavelet basis function comprises convolving each of the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified wavelet transform.
In a second aspect, the present invention features a filtering method comprising the steps of: inverse wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective inverse wavelet basis function during an inverse wavelet reconstruction synthesis using the inverse wavelet transform as a computation engine; and modifying the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect. The modification of the inverse wavelet basis function comprises convolving each of the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified inverse wavelet transform.
In another aspect, the present invention features a linear filtering apparatus for linear filtering digital signals using desired filters of various shape and length to establish a desired filtered effect on the digital signals. The apparatus includes a control means for controlling the operation of the linear filtering apparatus, and a signal sensing means that receives the digital signals from a signal data source. The linear filtering apparatus also comprises: a wavelet transform means for wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective wavelet basis function using the wavelet transform as a computation engine, wherein the wavelet transform means modifies the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect. The modification is effected by convolving each of the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified wavelet transform.
In yet another aspect, the present invention features a linear filtering apparatus comprising an inverse wavelet transform means for inverse wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective inverse wavelet basis function during an inverse wavelet reconstruction synthesis using the inverse wavelet transform as a computation engine. The inverse wavelet transform means modifies the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect, wherein the modification is effected by convolving the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified inverse wavelet transform.
A still further aspect of the present invention features a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon for linear filtering digital signals using a desired filter means of various shape and length to establish a desired filtered effect on the digital signals. The computer usable medium may be for use in a computer being controlled by a control means for operating the computer, and whereby the computer usable medium is also for use with a signal sensing means that receives the digital signals from a signal data source. The computer usable medium comprises a wavelet transform means for wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective wavelet basis function using the wavelet transform as a computation engine, wherein the digital signals being at least one-dimensional. The wavelet transform means modifies each of the wavelet basis functions of the wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect, wherein the modification is effected by convolving the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified wavelet transform.
Yet another aspect of the present invention features a computer usable medium comprising an inverse wavelet transform means for inverse wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective inverse wavelet basis function during an inverse wavelet reconstruction synthesis using the inverse wavelet transform as a computation engine. The inverse wavelet transform means modifies the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect, wherein the modification is effected by convolving the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified inverse wavelet transform.
Furthermore, an additional aspect of the present invention features a method for electronically sending digital signals over a communication network from a source acquisition system for use at a remote destination rendering system. The method comprising the steps of: establishing electronics communications link between the source acquisition system and the remote destination rendering system over the network; operating the source acquisition system to transmit the digital signals over the network for use in a rendering device or output device at the remote destination rendering system; and linear filtering at the source acquisition system the digital signals using a desired filter of various shape and length to establish a desired filtered effect. The linear filtering method comprising the steps of: wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective wavelet basis function using the wavelet transform as a computation engine; and modifying the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect, wherein the wavelet modification is effected by convolving the wavelet basis function of the wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified wavelet transform.
Finally, another aspect of the present invention features a method for electronically rendering digital signals at a destination rendering system, wherein the signals is being transmitted over a communication network that originates from a source acquisition system. The method comprising the steps of: establishing an electronic communications link between the source acquisition system and the destination rendering system over the network; operating the destination rendering system to receive the digital signals over the network for use in a rendering device or output device at the destination rendering system; and linear filtering at the destination rendering system the digital signals transmitted from the source acquisition system using a desired filter of various shape and length to establish a desired filtered effect. The linear filtering method comprising the steps of: inverse wavelet transforming the digital signals in a respective inverse wavelet basis function using the inverse wavelet transform as a computation engine; and modifying the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform in accordance with the desired filtering effect, wherein the inverse wavelet modification is effected by convolving the inverse wavelet basis function of the inverse wavelet transform with the desired filter, thereby forming a modified inverse wavelet transform.
These and other objects, along with advantages and features of the invention disclosed herein, will be made more apparent from the description, drawings, and claims that follow.